What does "rid" mean?
Rid: To save; to rescue; to deliver; -- with out of. [Obs.] Deliver the poor and needy; rid them out of the hand of the wicked. Ps. lxxxii.
Additional senses
- 2.2. To free; to clear; to disencumber; -- followed by of. "Rid all the sea of pirates." Shak. In never ridded myself of an overmastering and brooding sense of some great calamity traveling toward me. De Quincey.
- 3.To drive away; to remove by effort or violence; to make away with; to destroy. [Obs.] I will red evil beasts out of the land. Lev. xxvi.
- 4.Death's men, you have rid this sweet young prince! Shak.
- 5.To get over; to dispose of; to dispatch; to finish. [R.] "Willingness rids way." Shak. Mirth will make us rid ground faster than if thieves were at our tails. J. Webster. To be rid of, to be free or delivered from. -- To get rid of, to get deliverance from; to free one's self from.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00